PlayBox Technology (www.playbox.tv) has added new accelerated hardware to its channel-in-a-box software, providing greater reliability and performing tasks in software that used to require dedicated hardware.
By exploiting the latest-generation Intel CPUs, PlayBox Technology is able to make more extensive use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. The combination of the new chipsets and video cards, fully integrated with PlayBox Technology software, offers a higher price-performance ratio, the company said.
The results include simultaneous processes such as the encoding, decoding and resizing of several concurrent instances — all on the same server. This hardware acceleration translates into more channels per server and paves the way for additional features in future products.
An early example is the new AirBox MPO (Multiple Parallel Outputs) that uses hardware-accelerated power to simultaneously scale and/or encode several video streams. It enables different video formats (SD, HD, 25fps, 30 fps) and different outputs (SDI, analog, IP streaming, etc.) to run simultaneously from a single server.
AirBox MPO can running two or more multiple outputs, providing parallel outputs to deliver any required combination of formats, such as HD-SDI, SDI (in SD with real-time live rescaling) and IP streaming. Further applications of hardware-accelerated technology include rending 3D objects in real time in TitleBox graphics, and the encoding of HD to H.264 without using external coders.
